William Wegman: Unleashed

William Wegman: Unleashed

BY Samantha Gurrie, March 27, 2013

Spray-painted silver and gold like a Warhol art star. Garbed in head-to-toe haute couture. Enveloped in kaleidoscopic pom poms to look like—gasp!—a poodle. William Wegman’s Weimaraners have sat and stayed for their master’s lens since the ’70s. But the photographer famous for his portraits of anthropomorphised dogs is a brilliant conceptual artist in his own right. An absurdist thread winds through his oeuvre (painting, drawing, collage, film, 20×24 Polaroids and, more recently, digital photography) at once taunting and haunting the art world. His dogs are photogenic props in this, er, waggish work. So with a recent spread in UK magazine Man About Town, and a new campaign for Swedish label Acne, we caught up with Wegman to find out why his Weimaraners are the perfect aesthetic subjects. Indeed, grey goes with everything…

You were an artist before you started photographing dogs. Were you always a dog person?In retrospect I think I always was. When I went away to art school, the dog who was given to me in my Christmas stocking when I was six years old couldn’t come with me. I was an artist in my mid-’20s when I got Man-Ray. It was around the time I moved from true photography, video and performance art to just taking photographs. This dog was pretty young, only six weeks old, so he bonded with me in a very intense way. He would get stressed if I wasn’t looking at him every second!

May-Ray was a pet before a subject. How did he come to be featured in your work?It was hard not to include him. I would bring him to my studio in California and tie him up in the corner, but he would whine and chew things. I noticed that when I focused the camera on him—both still and video—he became really interested in what I was doing. I imagine that’s what happens with a hunting dog: When a hunter is loading ammo, his dog knows he’s doing something serious and becomes calm. So Man-Ray became really workable. And the fact that he was so spooky looking turned me on to finding ways to use him, even though I had an aversion to cute dog photographs because while my work was funny, I was very serious about it.

The Village Voice named Man-Ray “Man of the Year” in 1982. After his loss, did you look for another Weimaraner who had the makings of a star?I wasn’t. I thought it was the end. It was a heartbreaking finale to our 12 years of working together. I didn’t get Fay-Ray for another three years, and didn’t want to work with her at first. I thought it would be kind of contaminating to the work that I had done with Man-Ray. I thought it would be wrong…but it wasn’t!

I think partly because the dogs look so intense and the concept is so uncanny, your work avoided being regarded as gimmicky.At one time, I wanted to avoid anthropomorphism. Then I embraced it with Fay-Ray, but even when I dressed her up it was more eerie than cute. She looked almost sinister, like the hybrid creatures from mythology. I was working with a large-format Polaroid camera, which is the size of a refrigerator. It’s always vertical so I had put Fay-Ray on a table to look taller, with fabric hung over her. My assistant was behind her to keep the fabric from falling, and I could only see her hands. So it looked like Fay was talking to me, which was hilarious and very weird! So I took that picture and thought it was exciting and a little dangerous. Like a lot of my work, I recognised something accidentally.

Do you anthropomorphise your dogs in real life, too?I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what Man-Ray was thinking. I remember spending all day following him instead of him following me. It’s really remarkable how alive their senses are. Certainly through smell, but their vision is so different too because they use their heads like we use our hands so they can see sideways and upside down. But yes, it is irresistible to throw human words into their brains and think of them as your children, even though I have my own children and I know that it’s different!

Your work has featured Fay’s descendants over the years. Have they all been natural-born talents?They all have their quirks. May-Ray was male and kind of massive. Fay was very skittish. I think maybe a garage door fell on her before I got her! If someone tripped over a light stand, she would practically be foaming at the mouth. She was powerful but also very fragile.

It was remarkable when Fay had a litter of eight puppies and I ended up working closely with three of them. Batty became Cinderella to Fay, the Fairy Godmother [Fay’s Fairy Tales]. Crooky, for her crooked tail, was Batty’s opposite. Batty was narcoleptic but Crooky was super alert. I paired them together in the film The Hardly Boys, a parody on The Hardy Boys.

Chip, Batty’s son, was amazing in that you could put anything on him and he would not mind at all…so I ended up putting lots of things on him because he was so accommodating!

One of my dogs now, Candy, is 11 and I finally figured out how to use her. She is very agile but if I put her up, she would jump right down. So now I use her in motion. I’ve sent her flying through the air. I’ve given her extreme acrobatic stunts to do and she really enjoys the degree of difficulty. My other dogs are more poised.

Flo and Topper are very physical and quite beautiful, like beautiful sculptures. Flo really loves to work. I would put her next to Penny—who recently died but was an amazing model—just to have the experience, and she got kind of addicted to it. So I always look for what the dog brings, and go with that…

They have donned designer duds by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Helmut Lang, Alexander McQueen and Anna Sui, to name a few. Do your dogs have expensive tastes or do you go thrifting? And how do you decide who wears what?The first designer clothing collaboration came a short time after the yard sale, thrift store garb of the fairy-tale period. I think it may have been Moschino—for an AIDS benefit. Over the years, I have used lots of borrowed designer pieces. Issey Miyake works really well on the dogs as sculpture. Bobbin is an aging stud so he looks great in menswear. Topper, the youngest, is surprisingly boyish and striking as a male model. Flo is the most eager and can be stunning.

How is the photographer/subject relationship more intimate than owner/dog?I think I fell in love with Flo when she started doing things that I didn’t expect from her. She’s a difficult dog to live with—she’s loud, she’s busy, she’s an alpha bitch!—but when it comes to working, she cares so much about it and is so proud to be doing it, that it’s kind of heartbreaking. And then, when you look at the photographs, the image kind of burns into your mind and they become your muse.

You once, in the late ’80s, said that you felt “nailed to the dog cross.” But recent shows—Hello Nature, Drawings for a Better Tomorrow and a Worse Yesterday and The Traveler—feature your paintings and drawings over the years, sans dogs. In retrospect, are you happy with the balance of dog and non-dog work?I am; I’ve really come to terms with that. In 1978 I didn’t work with dogs at all, which was important but not fun. Now it’s fun! Things have come around to making sense in my work as a whole. There’s enough of it, and enough time has gone by. The lines of my work are arching in a way that they interestingly come together now and then.

What are you working on now?I just finished a children’s book of Flo as a puppy, where I painted around the photographs [Penguin]. I’m publishing two other books soon after, so there should be a big splash of publicity in the fall. I’m also working on some large paintings for a show in Sweden in late May…

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ISSUE NINE — PRE-ORDER NOW

by Four&Sons

In our Spring issue, there’s much to be in high spirits about. We go behind the scenes of Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, a movie fuelled by dopamine, alpha dogs, and a vast crew of artisans and animators. We hang with a pack of trippy-looking poodles created by artist Susumu Kamijo. We find five mutts who changed history by injecting their human counterparts with a good dose of serotonin. There is plenty of oxytocin going around, too. We celebrate Sulek’s photography of rescued Spanish galgos, Jo Longshurst’s abstract twist on pet portraiture, and Ho Hai Tran’s love of stripes and spots. We travel to Berlin, Toronto, London, and upstate New York to meet creative types whose bonds with their four-legged mates are as heartfelt as they are intoxicating. We ask five foodies to fess up about dog snacks and guilty pleasures that feed body and soul, and we embrace illustrator Apolline Muet’s bear hugs between humans and animals.
All this, and more, inside the covers.

Best of breeds

DODGY DOGS

Everyone knows dogs love cards, as established in Coolidge’s famous series of paintings: “Dogs Playing Poker”. Thanks to Jean Jullien and Yolky Games, dogs now have their very own deck tailored to their traits. Dodgy Dogs is an illustrated card game of our favourite hounds getting up to mischief such as piddling on the floor and stealing sausages. Featuring an abundance of breeds in all shapes and sizes, the deck celebrates a dog’s best and worst habits in Jullien’s humorous and relatable style. A long-time friend of dodgy dogs, his previous works include pooch-related books, t-shirts and even a live-drawing event. Woof!

THE FURRY THINGS

Although felines are usually the focus of Kamwei Fong’s drawings, a few furry mutts and pedigree pooches have started to steal the show. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Fong creates highly textured illustrations using a simple black-ink pen. Multiple layers of mini strokes create critters with a tactile and irresistible fluffiness. Their softness and benevolence convey the crux of Fong’s ideals: “Be happy. Be childlike. Be ridiculous.” His commissions include poodles, Pomeranians and, most recently, a dapper Scottie dog strutting its stuff with undeniable zeal.

TEN HUT

The Legowisko Hut from Hello Pets seems more like a cosy tent. Its light-wood struts and felt strips muffle the sounds of the outside world and create a calm atmosphere— with a plush cushion for extra comfort. The open ends allow inhabitants to sprawl or curl up, keep an eye out or get some shut-eye. Hello Pets is based in Poland, where they create innovative dog beds and feed stands using natural materials in pared-back colours to complement your natural style.

WALK THE TALK

Illustrator, animator and director Greg Gunn has taken time out of his busy lifestyle to flop onto the couch and work on a series of illustrations entitled “Year of the Dog Walker”. Using Procreate on his trusty iPad, he makes portraits of fashionable folk and their cool companions in striking block colours. These eight characters are inspired by everyday streetwear and fashion photography, while their dogs—including, but not restricted to, an indignant Doberman, a pair of chipper chihuahuas, and a cute mutt—flaunt their own colour palette and style.

DOG&Co HITS THE WEST COAST

On the cusp between the neighbourhoods of Russian Hill and Polk Gulch in San Francisco resides Batch, a curated homewares store in a refurbished firehouse that changes its decoration each season. This summer it hosts Dog&Co, a brand with a bespoke range of dog-related goods. Browse coats and jumpers, harnesses and leashes, carrycases and beds, and even boots for delicate or sore paws. From Velvet Hippo to WagWear, sniff out a new find from their collection of reputable and beloved brands, as well as a few newcomers.
Photography by @rbradleyphoto

OLD MUTTS

Our devotion to our dogs never falters, especially when they are old and grey. At these times, our homes become an accumulation of precious years spent together, housing worn-out couches, pillows with dog-shaped grooves and blankets chewed to tatters. Grey hairs twang from eyebrows, beards grow rougher, and flecks of white dapple coats. Maria Spann’s humble shots of old dogs sprawled on sofas and curled in beds may not be “show-home” beautiful, but they are an honest reflection of the intimate spaces we share with our beloved pets.

HERE COMES THE HOWELLMAN

Street Dog, a wire-haired terrier, lives in Los Angeles with his human: prolific illustrator, cartoonist, and artist Jay Howell, whose quirky style has tickled our funny bones for nearly a decade. From 21 July 21 to 18 August, his latest collection of surreal drawings and silly (yet sometimes surprisingly sentimental) mixed-media works are on show at LA gallery Subliminal Projects. Alongside these is a limited-edition print release, plus a brand new zine. Howell has a self-confessed deep devotion to the dog, so expect to spot a few chubby and goofy hounds within the pieces boasting mischievous grins and lolling tongues.

LOVE FOR LURVIG

The world’s most popular blue box of affordable interiors, IKEA, has released a new collection tailored for dogs and cats. Under the name Lurvig, you will find bowls, beds, and blankets in tasteful shades of black, green, and white. Understated and adaptable, the IKEA design team worked alongside vets to create pieces for pets that slide seamlessly into a minimalist décor. Our favourite is the small sofa-shaped bed, where your four-legged friend can stretch out their paws after a long day, just like you.

BOW-WOW MEETS BOHO

Beachy chic pieces made from natural materials are now strolling the shorelines thanks to Sebastian Says. The latest collection, ‘A New Bohemian’, is made up of 100 percent cotton-macramé collars, leads in earthy hues and warm merino-wool sweaters.

Founded by Suz Strampic in Elwood, Australia, and inspired by the Aussie beaches, the Sebastian Says fringed-wool jumpers and vegetable-tanned leather collars are made for blustery beach days. The label’s tanning process uses vegetable dyes on Italian leather, leaving products naturally distressed (a smart contrast to the brass detailing). They also incorporate Pinatex—a vegan-friendly leather alternative made from fibres extracted from pineapple leaves—into collars and coats, which have the soft feel of real worn leather, and remain both environmentally friendly and sustainable. For a seamless finish to all outfits, get your dog’s name monogrammed on a collar of your choice. Looks like it’s time to drop the dog tag.